The Plutonian is one of Superman, albeit gone very, very wrong, and with almost none of Superman's weaknesses. He's also very evocative of Supreme, Miracleman, and the Homelander in appearance. In fact, his costume is nearly identical to Apollo's from Grounded.
Alana Patel is Lois Lane working at a radio station instead of a newspaper.
Samsara curiously seems to be a loose Expy of Jimmy Olsen.
Modeus is one of Lex Luthor with elements of Brainiac thrown in. His and the Plutonian's relationship is deliberately similar to Batman's with The Joker. He also has duplicates built in his image designed to look and think exactly like him while thinking they're the real Modeus, a clear nod to Doctor Doom, right down to being called Modeusbots; the only difference is that someone else built them.
The Inferno covered the surface-level traits — the Secret Identity as a millionaire, the secret mancave hideout which he decorated with weapons and equipment taken from his enemies as trophies, being a Badass Normal and a detective and possibly a similar backstory of fighting crime to avenge his parents. Personality-wise he wasn't much like Batman at all, though, being completely blindsided by Plutonian going rogue and finding himself unceremoniously Killed Offscreen due to not having any way to take him down, although he did at least have the foresight to develop a Self-Destruct Mechanism for his hideout, and had a computer system in it very similar to the Batcomputer.
The Hornet is also very similar to Batman, while also being much closer to him in terms of personality. Also a Badass Normal, his base of operations was a "cave" located under his house, he relied on skills and gadgets to get by, was Crazy-Prepared in his decision to make a deal with the Vespans to secure Betrayal Insurance, was friends with Tony à la Superman/Batman and demonstrated detective skills in noticing subtle clues weeks before that the Plutonian was going to break down sooner or later.note For example, Tony asked about the Hornet's wife by name, a piece of information Hornet never shared with anyone, leading him to realize Tony was spying on his teammates. The annual also showed they were in many ways Vitriolic Best Buds and that Plutonian considered them to be perfect Foils, and that an impromptu team-up between them was the inspiration to set up the Paradigm, a reflection of the more modern take on Superman and Batman's friendship.
Bette Noir is a Colour Character who uses trick ammunition and has Improbable Aiming Skills, a lot like Green Arrow. Except that whereas it's occasionally suggested that Green Arrow's skills are a result of a latent superpower, Bette's are unambiguously revealed to be just that in the final act. Also, she's Ms. Fanservice, has black in the name and usually fights without her powers, due to their destructive nature, all of which could make her one of Black Canary. Bette's dynamic with Tony before he fell from grace, the reveal that she cheated on Gilgamos with him, and how she ends up spending the apocalypse in the lap of luxury surrounded by attractive men might be nods to Oliver's characterization as a wealthy, carefree, and philandering socialite (if only when he's out of costume) in canon.
Gilgamos is Hawkman if you take the Egyptian motif away and replace it with a Babylonian one.
Hilariously, Volt is perfectly aware he's an Expy. As a black man with electrical super-powers, he's all too conscious that he's one of maybe a half-dozen other people with that exact description (Static, Black Lightning, Thunder Fall, Coldcast), and frequently bemoans it.
The superhero Qubit is a rather unusual case of this, being based on a non-comics, non-superhero character. He's clearly based off of the Doctor, particularly the Tenth Doctor, but also has similarities to Mr. Fantastic and Forge from the X-Men.
Max's sidekicks combine thematic elements of Harley Quinn and Robin, serving as both the Perky Female Minion and girlfriend to a nasty supervillain and then the sidekick of a grim, brooding and violent Anti-Hero. Each serves to demonstrate different aspects and Robins, however:
Jailbait represents Dick Grayson and Harley's Undying Loyalty to the Joker — Max's first and most devoted sidekick, but his coldness and lack of team spirit end up making her leave only to come back later, similar to Grayson's decision to become Nightwing and Harley's on-again-off-again relations with Mr. J.
Headcase represents Jason Todd and Harley's Mad Love/Yandere tendencies — Max's second sidekick, the loss of her family has poisoned her like it did Jason, and she is more brutal and violent than Jailbait; she also has a dash of Ignored Enamored Underling, which Harley often is to the Joker, and becomes a Clingy Jealous Girl who tries to kill Armadale for supposedly coming between her and Max. In place of her dying like Jason did, however, Max realises her issues run too deep for him to do anything about them and has her taken away.
Hatecrime represents Tim Drake and Harley's independence from the Joker — Max's third sidekick, she is the only one with no romantic interest in him and by far more sane and level-headed than her predecessors. She has an Atrocious Alias, something Tim would know something about too, and is much closer to Alana, reflecting Harley's bisexuality.
Orian is one of Mr. Myxztplk, albeit stripped of any comic relief qualities. A touch of General Zod is thrown into the mix as well, particularly his Manipulative Bastard qualities and his ultimate plan being to draw in an invasion force from Another Dimension. Also, some elements of Lobo are added too, in the sense that he is a hunter with a dark and crude sense of humor who is (in Orian's case, ambiguously) extraterrestrial.
Lieutenant Armadale is basically Commissioner Gordon with a lower rank.
Scylla and Charybdis are a grab-bag of traits from various Sibling Teams throughout comic history. They have the opposite-personalities dynamic of Hawk and Dove, a power set similar to the Marvel Family and power-sharing mechanics that borrow from the latter and the Wonder Twins. They might even be nods to the Summers Brothers, especially considering the reveal that they have a third brother living as a monk, which might be alluding to the subplot of a third Summers Brother in X-Men.
The Eleos are a Proud Scholar Race with an Alien Non-Interference Clause, similar to the Watchers from Marvel while possessing a size and physiology very similar to Galactus. Then we find out they are the Plutonian's birth parents — after a fashion — which makes them loose counterparts to Superman's birth parents Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van.
